In this day and age of Montana State University football, it’s simply difficult to be a close observer. Practices aren’t open to the public nor are scrimmages, so getting to do your own evaluation of player development may as well be thrown out the window.
Look no further than Monday’s depth chart release for Saturday’s Gold Rush game against Utah Tech. Specifically, MSU’s offensive line where previous All-Big Sky picks were either moved or missing and a freshman who saw sparse playing time in 2022 moved into the all-important left tackle slot.
Head coach Brent Vigen has said throughout fall camp that there was a lot of competition along the line despite MSU returning all of its starters from the 2022 version that was one of the best in program history, particularly in the run game. The Bobcats set numerous single-season rushing records, so while changes were possible they weren’t expected at this level.
Don’t tell redshirt freshman Conner Moore about it. He’s moving into that aforementioned left tackle spot, which is usually assigned to the team’s top pass blocker, and he’ll be backed up by another freshman Titan Fleischmann.
Putting Moore in that spot slides junior Rush Reimer, an All-Big Sky performer in 2022, to the left guard position where he’s ahead of another freshman, Burke Mastel.
“Conner as a true freshman last year was really up with us all year,” Vigen said in reference to Moore working with the varsity during the 2022 season. “He was a guy that traveled and played in three games. By playoff time last year, he was our next guy up at tackle. He showed some real promise last fall.
“This offseason, he went from 255 (pounds) in July of 2022 to 300 in spring 2023. He’s put on a lot of strength and size to go along with his athleticism. He’s continued to progress in such a fashion that this move made sense when you’re really thinking what’s it going to take to get our best five out there.”
The move works well for Reimer as well since the left guard position may be a better fit for him.
“Knowing Conner’s potential, we wanted to make Rush more position flexible,” Vigen said. “It proved out that that move for Rush was good for him. Ultimately, Conner really responded to the challenge that was set forth for him.”
Respond indeed. Moore is the starting left tackle in place of Reimer along with Jacob Kettles and Marcus Wehr, each who started at the position before Moore’s rise began.
Across the way Omar Aigbedion, who spelled injured Cole Sain in 2022, is in the right guard spot ahead of JT Reed, who was 2023 All-Big Sky preseason selection. Aigbedion was the highest graded freshman lineman in the country in 2002. Reed was banged up a bit during fall camp and missed a few games in 2022.
“Omar has had an amazing off-season,” Vigen said. “His fall camp and his rise from where he was last year. Last year, he was a talented guy who flashed at times. Certainly, the running video against Weber State out on the perimeter caught a lot of eyes. He did some really good things, but he built off that with a great off-season and looks, in my eyes, to be a very dominant player at that right guard position.”
While Reed was poised to be one of the top linemen in the Big Sky Conference his injury, while a setback, may not hold him out for long and, like Reimer, he gained valuable versatility for the team.
“JT Reed is one that’s suffered through some injuries,” Vigen said. “He’s a guy we gave some center reps to increase his position flexibility. Losing Cole Sain (to a season-ending injury) did hurt. Cole had a really good spring and played well last year. His ability to play all five positions was there, but the nature of football is you have to be able to find the next guy to step up.”
The right tackle is Marcus Wehr, who was in that spot at the start of 2022, went down with a season-ending leg injury midway through the season and was replaced by Jacob Kettels, who is now his backup.
The lone player that played every game a season ago and is back in his old spot this year is center Justus Perkins. He’s backed up by fellow junior Holden Sampson.
In 2022, Reimer was the left tackle, Reed the left guard, Perkins the center, Sain the right guard and Wehr the right tackle. Only Perkins and Wehr are holdovers.
“We are on our own, just like last year,” Wehr, a Billings Central product, said in August. “We have a standard that we have to uphold and if a man goes down, next man up. That standard doesn’t change.
“We had a really good team last year but last year doesn’t matter anymore. We have to establish that new standard.”
One of the upshots for the Bobcats is the depth, which was good in 2022, all along the line they’ll enjoy in 2023. Kettels and Reed are proven commodities, while Fleischmann has received praise from the coaches. Sampson, a Helena High product has played extensively on extra-point and field goal units.
MSU set the school’s record for most yards rushing in a season (4,373) and best average yards per carry (6.5). Quarterback Tommy Mellott set the Big Sky single game rushing record by a quarterback with 273 yards against Weber State.
Wide receiver turned running back Marqui Johnson set the school record for yards per carry (14.1) in a single game against Cal Poly. He ran for 242 yards, which is the fifth best total in MSU history, and was just one touchdown shy of the record for most rushing TDs (5) in a game.
In that same game, the Bobcats set the team single game record for rushing yards with 554 yards, breaking the previous high mark set all the way back in 1973. MSU also had its sixth best single game performance in history with 439 rushing yards one week later against Montana. The Bobcats ran for more touchdowns (49) in a single season than ever before and quarterback Sean Chambers ran for 19 touchdowns, which is just two short of the MSU record and led the FCS nationally. Former running back Isaiah Ifanse set the career record for rushing yards before transferring to Cal.
The Bobcats kick off their 2023 season this Saturday when Utah Tech comes to Bozeman for MSU’s annual Gold Rush game.
